princeoftennisfandomcom-20200223-history
Renji Yanagi
Renji Yanagi (柳 蓮二 Yanagi Renji) is a 3rd year student and a regular at Rikkai Daigaku Fuzoku Chuu. He is one of the Three Demons (Sannin Bakemono)/Rikkai Dai's Big Three along with Captain Yukimura Seiichi and Vice-Captain Sanada Genichirō, and is known as the 'Master.' He is also the childhood friend and doubles partner of Inui Sadaharu from Seigaku who, like him, is a Data Tennis 'player. Background Yanagi Renji is the Treasurer and Strategist of the Rikkai Dai Fuzoku Tennis Club, and is known as one of Rikkai's Big Three, along with Yukimura and Sanada. Known as the 'Master,' Yanagi is one of at least two other Data Tennis players in the series. This technique allows him to predict (based on data gathered and an understanding of the opponent's psychology) the opponent's next shot. This is a play style he learned from Mitsuya Akuto, and which he later taught Inui. Appearance Yanagi is a tall, willowy middle schooler with a bob cut (and later, long and layered) hairstyle. He is often seen with his eyes closed (which he rarely opens), and an cool, impassive expression. His eyes are brown and his hair is black (brown in the anime). Personality yanagi ghost.jpg|Yanagi dressing up as a ghost. Yanagi is quiet, mysterious, soft-spoken, extraordinarily intelligent, and has an acid sense of humor. His manner of speaking is concise, yet comprehensive: He usually goes straight to the point and mentions only important pieces of information. He is very observant, detecting details that others fail to realize, but does not like to give others the answers they need—rather, he would allow others to dwell on their own thoughts and figure it out themselves. He is somewhat more approachable than the aloof and serious Sanada. However, Yanagi can be as rough as the the other 'Demons': In the manga, he once hit Kirihara for asking him a stupid question in public, and also asked Sanada to hit him when he lost against Inui to set an example for the other club members. History Early Childhood In ''The New Prince of Tennis, it was revealed that a chance encounter with Mitsuya Akuto determined the course of Yanagi's tennis career, as it was Mitsuya who taught Yanagi Data Tennis. Later, Yanagi himself taught Inui Data Tennis. Four Years Prior To The Storyline Yanagi and Inui attended the same tennis school, and formed a leading Doubles team that was well-known in the Junior tennis leagues. After one of their practices, by Yanagi's suggestion, they decided to determine which one of them was stronger. However, the match was interrupted at 5-4 (with Yanagi leading) when their tennis club closed for the day. On their way home, the two promised to continue their match at a later time. The next day, Yanagi moved to Kanagawa without telling Inui. It would be '4 Years, 2 Months and 15 Days' until they met again in the Kantō Tournament Finals as opponents, with Yanagi playing for Rikkai, and Inui playing for Seigaku. Two Years Prior To The Storyline Yanagi, along with Yukimura and Sanada, joined the Rikkai Tennis Club and became regular members. Despite being first year students, they were said to be mainly responsible for Rikkai's first National Tournament championship title. One Year Prior To The Storyline Yanagi, Yukimura, and Sanada formed the tennis club's leadership in their second year. Kirihara Akaya, among others, joined the club at the beginning of this year, wanting to defeat the regulars and be 'Number One' in Japan—a hope that was quickly dashed when the Big Three played against and utterly defeated him. Yanagi and his unnamed doubles partner defeat Shitenhōji's Zaizen Hikaru and Koishikawa Kenjirō at the National Tournament semi-finals in Doubles 2. Rikkai continued to the National Tournament finals to win the championship for the second year in a row. Kantō Regional Tournament Kirihara, Yanagi, and Sanada watched the Kanto Regional Tournament's Round 1 match between Seigaku and Hyoutei (in particular, Tezuka and Atobe's, and; Ryoma and Hiyoshi's matches). It is interesting to note that during this appearence, the Rikkai tennis uniform appears red. Rikkai cruised through the Kanto Regional Tournament, defeating Fudomine in the semi-finals where Yanagi partnered up with Sanada against Ibu Shinji and Kamio Akira. They won effortlessly, and Rikkai advanced to the finals. In the finals, Yanagi played Singles 3 against Inui who manipulated the game in order for them to reenact the course of their previously interrupted match. When the score reached 5-4, Yanagi and Inui pick up where they left off, forcing a tiebreaker. In the end, Yanagi loses to Inui 7-6, Rikkai's first loss in the finals. According to Inui, either of them had a 50% chance of winning the match. Sanada notes that the match was not one that Yanagi could not have won, but he had allowed his personal feelings to come in the way. Yanagi asks Sanada to punish him for his loss by hitting him, to set an example for the other members. However, Kirihara intervenes, saying that he will finish his own match in 13 minutes in order for the team to make it to Yukimura's surgery, scheduled for that day, on time. Seigaku would continue on to win the remaining Singles matches, and consequently the Kanto Regionals championship. National Tournament Yanagi and Rikkai continue to the National Tournament expecting nothing less than victory. They easily crush their opponents up until the semi-finals, where they drop their first games and sets in the tournament against Nagoya Seitoku. However, it was revealed that Rikkai lost the first two matches on purpose to pile pressure on Kirihara so that he could bring out his new Devil Mode. Yanagi then pairs up with Niō Masaharu for Doubles 2 and wins comfortably. During the National Tournament finals against Seigaku, Yanagi pairs up with Kirihara in Doubles 2 against Inui and Kaidō Kaoru. When Kirihara goes into Devil Mode after Kaidoh hits him, Yanagi allows his teammate to continue on in that state, though he calms Kirihara down when Kirihara steps and breaks Inui's glasses. Yanagi does not stop Kirihara from hitting Inui, but tells Inui to give up because the match was pointless. They then win as the Seigaku pair forfeits, angering a Fuji who played S2 next against Niou. Prior to the Japan U-17 Camp Yanagi and Inui work on an Inui Juice recipe and Yanagi decides to bring the drink to the Rikkai tennis club. Japan U-17 Camp Yanagi arrives in the U-17 camp with the other Rikkai regulars. He notices after watching Momoshiro's planned match that they should watch out for the coaches. RenjiU17.png RenjiU17Kirihara.png|Yanagi against Kirihara in their tie-break. Yagyuu, Kirihara and Yanagi watch Yukimura defeat Sanada.jpg|Yanagi with teammates Kirihara and Yagyuu as Yukimura defeats Sanada in the tie-break. He pairs up with Kirihara during the Tiebreak elimination match, and was 1 point away from winning but then forfeits the game. He tells Kirihara that he needed to stay behind in the camp, saying "crawl higher" and then leaving with Sanada while his teammates looked on. Yanagi realized that Kirihara had to grow in order to lead the Rikkai tennis team to the Nationals next year. All the Middle Schoolers that lost their tie-break are taken away from the camp by coach however the driver takes a detour and they are met by the Mental Coach who takes them to to a mountain. He tells them to climb a mountain by the camp if they want the chance to stay in the camp. Yanagi and the 26 other middle schoolers complete this task and end up meeting the High Schoolers who were unable to attain a ball from the helicopter amd begin to train in the mountains. Yanagi and the rest of the middle school losers begin their training in the mountain, where he plays with the middle schoolers against the losing high schoolers on the court with an irregular bounce due to its topography. However, he and Inui use their Data tennis and play the high schooler until it was 2 vs. 3 this was an unfair competition as in reality, the Middle Schoolers had won due to the High Schoolers having far more players on their team than the middle schoolers giving them the unfair advanatage. The Middle School losers are then forced to sleep in the cave due to losing this encounter so tightly. The next challenge involved having a balloon attached to all the members of the Mountain training's waist, both Middle Schoolers and High Schoolers. The Middle Schoolers return back the main U-17 Camp, and completely defeat 2nd Court. U-17 Camp Revolution Tumblr_neks32zs3g1skkk3ao7_500.png|Renji stopped moving while fighting Akuto Tumblr_neks32zs3g1skkk3ao6_500.png|Yanagi kneeled Yanagi faces his Data Tennis teacher Mitsuya Akuto the All-Japan Junior No. 17. Partway through the match, Yanagi loses motivation to continue because he calculates that the probability of his victory was 0%. Inui Sadaharu, who was watching the match, however, calls out to him and reminds him of nationals, convincing Yanagi to discard his data and play with all he has. Yanagi is utterly defeated, despite playing his best. He loses the match and collapses, entrusting the match to Inui, who Yanagi says has a 33.1% probability of winning, likely due to the data he was able to collect during Yanagi's match. It appears that Inui defeated Mitsuya Akuto, but Yanagi is seen wearing the No. 17 badge instead of Inui when the middle schoolers return to the courts. Inui helps him stand upright and walk after the match. Genius 10 Challenge Yanagi and the majority of the camp play audience to the match between Top 10 and their Middle School challengers. He and the data players comment on the players of the 1st match No.10 Juzaburō Mōri, his former Rikkai teammate in the year above him, and No.9 Ochi Tsukimitsu. Tennis Record Nationals U-17 Camp U-17 World Cup Playing Style and Techniques Yanagi is a counterpuncher and a '''Data Tennis player, capable to mix the two playstyles in a frightening combination to observe the opponent and slowly destroy them. His analytic abilities and his own abilities as a formidable tennis player makes it hard for people to find his weak spot while Yanagi easily finds the opponent's. Yanagi's analysis also makes him fit for doubles, as he works well with his teammates Sanada and Nio and is one of the notable members that can keep his fellow teammate Kirihara Akaya contained when he's in his Devil Mode. His skills gave him the title of "Master" and earned him a consistent spot in the famous Rikkai Dai regulars ever since he enrolled into Rikkai as a freshman and helped lead the team to the Nationals Championship with fellow teammates Sanada and Yukimura, giving the three the title of "The Three Demons of Rikkai." Data Tennis A style of tennis based on data gathered on the opponents, Yanagi learned this from Mitsuya Akuto and taught it to Inui Sadaharu. Like Inui, Yanagi can quickly calculate where the next ball will land at and shows a sharp understanding of a player's psychology. Unlike Inui, however, Yanagi can calculate further than him to the point where he can predict what someone would say next. Yanagi uses his observation to not only outpredict an opponent, but he can use it to outplay an opponent and destroy their fundamental style of tennis, effectively shutting down their efforts. However, his Data Tennis can only predict so much; during his Singles 3 match against Inui, Yanagi was unable to realize that Inui was recreating their previous match they had until the score was set to where the duo left off. Also, he was unable to respond to Kaido's Tornado Snake/Gyro Laser tactic. His Data Tennis can be wrong as well, as he was unable to correctly predict Akuto's next words, and the data he collects from his Data Tennis is not always favorable, as he can predict his own losses due to being unable to match up to the opponent's skills. Kamaitachi (Wind Blade) A super high-speed (usually backhand) slice shot that can suddenly sink and hit the baseline, Yanagi was shown to be able to use this technique despite positioning his body low during his take-back for the swing. The backspin generated by the high-speed swing allows the ball to sink suddenly after reaching a certain level of speed. This technique is shown to create wind blades (hence its name) for visual effect when this move is utilized. Utsusemi (Cicada) A drop shot similar to Tezuka Kunimitsu's Zero Shiki Drop, the ball rolls toward the returner after landing. U-17 Camp Stats *Speed: 3 *Technique: 5 *Mental: 4 *Stamina: 3 *Power: 3 Personal Information *Foot Size: 26 cm *Hobby: Reading (pure literature) *Family Composition: Grandparents, Father, Mother, Older Sister *Father's Occupation: CPA (Certified Public Accountant) *Uses allowance on: Books *Favorite Motto: "One thousand days' training to forge, ten thousand days' training to temper." *Best Subject: Kokugo (Japanese), Classics, World History *Worst Subject: None *Committee: Student council secretary *Often visited place in school: Library *Favorite Color: White *Favorite Food: He is not picky about food, but prefers the light-flavored *Favorite types of movies: Films produced by Ozu Yasujirou *Favorite type of books: Pure literature (especially Natsume Souseki's work) *Favorite type of music: Old Japanese court music *Favorite Type: A shrewd girl *Favorite date spot: Literature house *Most wanted thing right now: Japanese literature collection *Daily Routine: Read the morning and evening newspaper *Doesn't like/bad at doing: People who waste money and time *Special skill aside from tennis: Mental math, haiku, Go, Japanese chess, tea ceremony Trivia Character Trivia *When he was child, he once broke Inui's glasses, but was forgiven as he informed Inui and apologized immediately. *Sometimes he comes to pick Kirihara up in the house because his junior often comes late to morning practice. Other Trivia *His birthday is one day after his childhood friend's, Sadaharu Inui, June 3rd. *He is the tallest member in Rikkaidai Tennis Club, but his shoe size is the smallest. *He and Nio Masaharu like similar types of girl. *He has an unusual reading speed, and is addressed as "The Walking Dictionary" in Rikkaidai. *His annual average amount of reading: 600 books. Quotes *(About Tennis) "All you have to do is hit the ball where the opponent can't reach it. That's all there is to it." Gallery Answer.jpg|Answer character song My Sea of Japan.jpg|My Sea of Japan character song Category:Characters Category:Tennis Player Category:Rikkaidai Tennis Club Member Category:Middle Schooler Category:3rd Year Middle School Category:U-17 Camp Category:Counterpuncher Category:Right-Handed Category:Data Tennis Users Category:Kanto Players Category:Capable with Singles and Doubles Category:Kanagawa Players Category:Revolutionary Brigade Category:Middle School Treasurer Category:World Cup Participants Category:June Births Category:A Blood Types Category:Gemini